Some vehicles today have different driving modes with different levels of activated arrangements and systems for relieving a vehicle operator from some or all operations he/she otherwise would have had to perform in order to drive the vehicle along a route.
A driving mode in which the vehicle operator himself/herself drives the vehicle along a route or road is referred to as a manual driving mode. In the manual driving mode the vehicle operator provides e.g., steering-, accelerating- and braking input to the vehicle.
Some vehicles are capable of driving autonomously, i.e., without steering- accelerating- or braking input from a vehicle operator. Sensors of the autonomous vehicle continuously monitor the vehicle surrounding. The sensors can detect e.g., road lanes, surrounding traffic and various obstacles on- or in the vicinity of the road. The sensors may detect distances and directions to other vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, etc. Different kinds of sensors may be used, such as cameras, radar and/or lidar. Autonomous vehicles can also comprise communication equipment, such that road and/or traffic information may be sent to/from the vehicle. A drive arrangement or operating arrangement of the vehicle can then control drive functions, such as steering, accelerating, braking etc., as a function of the information received from the sensors and information sent to the vehicle. Hereby the vehicle can drive autonomously along at least some road sections within a road network. A driving mode in which the vehicle is driving autonomously is referred to as an autonomous driving mode.
Autonomous drive functions may facilitate for a vehicle operator, since he/she may focus on secondary tasks instead of driving when autonomous driving is enabled. However, vehicle operators may be unaccustomed with autonomous drive functions and may therefore possibly start to operate the vehicle manually in situations where a transition from autonomous driving to manual driving is not suitable. Further a vehicle operator may, for example due to old habits, start to operate the vehicle manually in situations where autonomous driving functions well or even is preferable, e.g., from a safety and/or comfort point of view. This may also cause confusion on whether the responsibility for operating the vehicle lies with on the autonomous drive system or the vehicle operator.
Thus, improvements related to uncalled vehicle operator interaction and transitions between different driving modes are desirable.